BT Group

BT Group plc

Formerly	British Telecom
Company type	Public
Traded as	LSE: BT.A FTSE 100 Component
Industry	Telecommunications
Predecessor	Electric Telegraph Company General Post Office Post Office Telecommunications
Founded	18 June 1846; 177 years ago (1846-06-18) (foundation of the Electric Telegraph Company) 1 January 1912; 112 years ago (1912-01-01) (National Telephone Company system take-over under the General Post Office) 1 October 1969; 54 years ago (1969-10-01) (as a public corporation under the Post Office) 1 October 1981; 42 years ago (1981-10-01) (as a public corporation under the British Telecom brand) 1 April 1984; 40 years ago (1984-04-01) (as a private company)
Headquarters	London , England, UK
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Adam Crozier (Chairman) Allison Kirkby (CEO) Simon Lowth (Group Finance Director)
Products	Fixed-line telephony Mobile telephony Broadband internet Fibre-optic communication Digital television IT and network services Home security Telecommunications equipment
Revenue	£20.669 billion (2023)[1]
Operating income	£3.175 billion (2023)[1]
Net income	£1.905 billion (2023)[1]
Total assets	£52.75 billion (2023)[1]
Owner	Patrick Drahi (24.5%)[2] Deutsche Telekom (12%)[3]
Number of employees	98,800 (2023)[1]
Divisions	BT Business BT Consumer BT Digital BT Networks
Subsidiaries	BT Ireland BT Italia EE Openreach Plusnet
Website	bt.com

BT Group plc (trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is the largest provider of fixed-line, broadband and mobile services in the UK, and also provides subscription television and IT services.^[4]

BT's origins date back to the founding in 1846 of the Electric Telegraph Company, the world's first public telegraph company, which developed a nationwide communications network. BT Group as it came to be started in 1912, when the General Post Office, a government department, took over the system of the National Telephone Company^[5] becoming the monopoly telecoms supplier in the United Kingdom. The Post Office Act of 1969 led to the GPO becoming a public corporation, Post Office Telecommunications.^[6] The British Telecom brand was introduced in 1980, and became independent of the Post Office in 1981, officially trading under the name. British Telecom was privatised in 1984, becoming British Telecommunications plc, with some 50 percent of its shares sold to investors. The Government sold its remaining stake in further share sales in 1991 and 1993. BT holds a royal warrant and has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

BT controls a number of large subsidiaries. Its BT Enterprise division supplies telecoms services to corporate and government customers worldwide,^[7] and its BT Consumer division supplies telephony, broadband, and subscription television services in the United Kingdom to around 18 million customers.^[8]